Wednesday, February 08, 2012

I woke up this morning for the first time feeling like everything is going to be okay.

It's been 2 months since my husband moved out. I've been waking up every morning with amnesia and have had to remind myself of my new life.

This morning I awoke in my room and saw this beautiful burst of sunlight and flower pins and hairclips that I had hanging and remembered what I loved. What inspires me. What makes me get up in the morning.

In writing my Painting book I realized that I was writing medicine to myself, my future self. As Helen Keller said:

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing".

Furthermore that the adventure and the daring part is just about aligning yourself to what makes you feel alive.

My husband and I had a beautiful and complex relationship where we loved each other and were artistic allies. There is so much mystery to people. There is so much that I won’t understand, but what I do know is that we must continue to “show the world our magic” and align ourselves to our own truth and aliveness.

Today I decided to paint my own magic for the first time in my studio in months and it felt AWESOME.

I realized while writing my book that what you put on your canvas is really a mirror for your life. By being daring on my canvas, my life broke open in a new way and is waiting for me to begin.

Friday, October 21, 2011

This five week course is just $139 and includes:-Tons of video demonstrations by Lisa and Mati showing you how to paint in their own words and with their own hands!-Lessons include using inspiration, transferring images, color mixing, layering technique & creating depth and dimension with paint-Cohesive, supportive online environment with fellow classmates plus Mati & Lisa offering feedback and support

Use this course however you like! It's open to ALL levels!-Take it at your own pace! (no strict schedule)-Participate in the course environment to the extent you are comfortable (you don't ever have to post images of your paintings if you don't want to!)-Take the information that is relevant to you and use it how you like

We'd love to have you!To register, go here or just click the button below. You will have plenty of time to get your supplies and get ready to paint during the first week of class.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Every Monday morning I am lucky enough to meet up with my artistic support group aka LIDLaka the group that keeps me sane in the midst of crazy deadlines!

We usually meet at the same beautiful coffee shop on the water, but several Mondays ago we met at Miss Amelia's poolside! Not too shabby a way to begin our week, eh?

We go around and we each have about 15 minutes to talk through what we're working on and to brainstorm new ideas for one another and offer support and accountability for our deliverables. I love my Monday mornings and this creative group so. IF you work alone as a freelancer and long for a group like this, I highly recommend it! Let me fill you in on what everyone's up to right now:

This week Amelia is getting ready for her "Mini Hipster Plushie Workshop" that will be featured at the Inner Sunset Street Fair on Sunday, October 16th from 1-3pm. Join GoGo Craft this weekend if your looking for a good reason to get off your couch, explore a cool neighborhood, and make something cool!

Jen is back from Europe (Istanbul, Brussels and London), full of inspiration and ready to start working on some new prints. But first, she has to finish a few paintings for her trip sponsors.

Stef is in the middle of giving her website a fresh look while getting ready to head off to Shuttersisters Camp! She can't wait to come back with inspiration, new tools and new friendships!

Our other Steph has been training her new intern, Christel, in prep for APE 2011 last weekend! She has never felt so excited to get her business into shape. They're currently working on line-sheets (thanks, Stitch Labs) to help expand her business into the wholesale world for the holiday season!

Gearing up to speak at the Summit of Awesome for the 3rd year in a row... this time in Baltimore, October 20-22!

With all this going on, she hasn't had a lot of time to put into WilloToons Connect, but she did publish her third episode with Marianne Elliott last month, and if you haven't watched it yet... it's a must see! Marianne is such a beautiful guide and inspiration for helping artists like us find our way back to self-care. Speaking of, in case you missed it, I was featured in Willo's second episode, where we also discuss self-care, the importance of perspective in artistic process, and there's a sneak peek of my new book coming out!

And me, what do I have to report? I'm on VACATION for the first time in months and just saw a double rainbow in the Seattle skies!!!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

A few friends tweeted me photos* recently of my lucky elephant art displayed in NYC on Pier 1's windows! I never thought that when I started making art that I would have my art sprawled across several windows in Manhattan! Wow!

Than the other day my husband Hugh was shopping for a basket at Pier 1 and said, "Wait, that's my wife's art all over the gift cards!". Yay! He brought one home for me to see! I love how it folds open and the actual gift cards have my ellies on them as well.

*If anyone out there lives in NYC or is visiting and can take a higher quality photo, please, please, please do! I'll send you some love in the form of art. Thank you!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

ok bare with me, i'm a little shy on camera... but i love my friend willo and we always have the best conversations while hiking, biking and at LIDL our design league, that i gave a taped interview a whirl. willo and her team did a great job putting it together!

here's the trailer:

go here for the whole one with SNEAK PEEKS of my book cover in progress!!!

Monday, June 06, 2011

Tomorrow, June 7th, is the last day to register for our summer session of Get Your Paint On!

Get Your Paint On: A Five Week Painting Class

with Lisa Congdon and Mati McDonough

June 12 - July 17 2011

Lisa + I had so much fun teaching this online class this past winter! It was incredible to witness the incredible paintings that students shared from around the world. The support, growth and enthusiasm within the class was awesome! I truly can't wait until June 12th to begin again and feel inspired :)

xoxoMati

WHAT PAST PARTICIPANTS HAVE SAID ABOUT GET YOUR PAINT ON...

"Thank you so much for offering this class, it has been wonderful and inspirational, just as the community that has grown around it. I appreciate you both sharing yourselves so openly and helping us all no matter our level of skill or expertise."

"Thank you so much for this wonderful class. I've been wanting to start painting for a LONG time and this class finally gave me the kick in the pants to DO IT. I am so glad I signed up. I learned so much. Mati and Lisa, you were so encouraging and made this a really fun experience (even when painting was frustrating)."

"Yay! As a newbie I was so worried that I was going to be out of my depth, but the two of you & everyone else made this space so relaxed and easy to take risks and the support and encouragement made me want to paint more and more and more. I have loved every moment and will be looking out for the next class. Thank you!"

"I am really going to miss this class. The dialogue and inspiration,and assignments have really reignited my love of creating."

"I really appreciate the way this painting class is set up. It's so good to learn to work with assignments. There is definitely a good thing going on here with all the creative community being built as we're able to bounce ideas back and forth."

"Thank you to you Lisa and Mati! I have been so happy inside since I started painting. I have always known that I have this creative molten magma inside of me and now it is getting to come to the surface. I'm loving it!!"

Thursday, May 26, 2011

it's been a few months now and i'm finally feeling like i'm settling into a routine at our new studio space. this morning we had our first writing class with laurie wagner and i feel like i experienced a little bit of church and returned to myself after weeks of feeling flurried. it dawned on me how this is all really happening. how after so many years of risk-taking, sacrifice and preserving my dreams to live full-time as an artist; that right now all my dreams are coalescing and being realized. and i'm so happy that we have a space to share with other artists, dreamers and explorers.

we took a leap of faith with this studio space and it has been awesome to see how people have responded and how organically and right everything feels. it has also been a tremendous amount of hard work getting it together and essentially starting a new business while being full-time artists!

we have hosted several parties, a benefit for a sweet kitty, craft nights, a bike mechanic class and several incredible weekend classes. we now have a gallery page with our classes with flora + tracey and regular bits of our studio life taken by my studio-mate stef. we have some really amazing ones coming up! i'm truly excited about all of them and hope they are all a go... we need folks to sign up for them! i really want alena hennessy's to happen because i've been a long time admirer of her work. so sign up folks, if you're on the fence, so we don't have to cancel them due to low enrollment pretty please!

here are some shots of our space i took today after a long hiatus with my camera (and blog!). the teaset and omg! pillow were gifts from my sweet hugh from his trip to england last week. and the coffee table i found on the street that i have BIG plans for ;)

Tiffany, Stef and I are *nearly* all moved into the studio and we're almost ready to have you all over for some tea!In the meantime, be sure to check out our website because we have some uh-maze-ing workshops scheduled including:

I'm excited that I'll be getting to take all of these! Don't you want to join us?

Get Your Paint On

Lisa and I wrapped up Get Your Paint On at the end of February and we had such a great time teaching everyone! The students were amazing and everyone had such a great time! We'll be offering the course again in May, so be sure to sign up for the course newsletter to stay informed and get all the secret special early-bird registration dates!

JOY Retreat

I'm heading to Oregon tomorrow to teach at the amazing JOY Retreat in Manzanita. I can't wait to spend some time on the coast with a group of really amazing women!

OH! and PS: Did I mention that I'm writing a BOOK?! Nooo? Well, guess what...

I'm writing a book! Hooray!!!

I am thrilled to finally be able to completely spill the beans about this dream project -- and now you guys know the truth about what's been keeping me so busy!

I'm also in the midst of redesigning my website with an online shop, so for the sake of my sanity, I'm going to keep my etsy shoppe closed until the website launches this summer...

Stay tuned for lots of news though, and I'll do my best to update the blog periodically to keep you guys in the loop and give you lots of sneak peeks of great things to come!

Also, I'm looking for a summer studio intern to help assist me with all these creative projects.